The Daniel Ricciardo switch from Red Bull to Renault is going to have serious implications in the driver market.
Ricciardo will be partnering Hulkenberg at Renault and will be the designated number 1 driver for the team.
🗣 “We fully respect Daniel’s decision to leave Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and we wish him all the best in his future.” More 👉 https://t.co/YP9ESsaFqq #F1 pic.twitter.com/qY0sFVQ03I
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 3, 2018
Thank you @redbullracing for the last 5 years. Many amazing moments which I’ll never forget and be forever grateful for. Still plenty of 2018 left to create more memories and finish strong. pic.twitter.com/jNjnoT0hsj
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) August 4, 2018
Christian Horner and co. have been given the job of identifying a swift replacement for Ricciardo and initially it was assumed that Sainz would make the journey from Renault to Red Bull, however, that doesn’t seem like the case now.
Verstappen has been identified as the no.1 driver of the team and has now vetoed Sainz’s return to Red Bull, according to reports in Marca
Red Bull chiefs Helmut Marko and Christian Horner have been guilty of favouritism towards Verstappen, something that might have triggered Ricciardo’s move away from the team.
Now, Sainz and Verstappen had an iffy relationship whilst at Toro Rosso in 2015, and thus Verstappen doesn’t want him to come to Red Bull and experience that tension once again.
Now, with Sainz out of the equation, Red Bull have reportedly turned their attention of Pierre Gasly, as Helmut Marko is a fan of the Toro Rosso driver.
Sainz could also reportedly be moving to McLaren, with Esteban Ocon now in a fix with both Renault spots out of the window.
The driver market is sure to spring up a few surprises in the next few weeks.
